Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Android | iHeartRadio | TuneIn | RSS | More
In this episode, we observe the projection of one’s emotions on elements in nature, as portrayed in Sangam Literary work, Kurunthogai 92, penned by Thamodharanaar. The verse is situated in the coastal regions of ‘Neythal’ and speaks in the voice of the lady, one evening, when the man, who had parted with her, continued to stay away.
ஞாயிறு பட்ட அகல் வாய் வானத்து-
அளியதாமே-கொடுஞ் சிறைப் பறவை,
இறை உற ஓங்கிய நெறி அயல் மராஅத்த
பிள்ளை உள்வாய்ச் செரீஇய
இரை கொண்டமையின், விரையுமால் செலவே.
Scenes at sunset fill this verse! The opening words ‘ஞாயிறு பட்ட’ talk about this very phenomenon of ‘the sun vanishing away’ that happens day after day. ‘அளியதாமே’ then expresses sympathy towards some non-human entity, for it means ‘it is to be pitied’. We hear the flutter of wings in ‘கொடுஞ் சிறைப் பறவை’ meaning ‘a bird with curved wings’ as well as its abode, ‘ஓங்கிய நெறி அயல் மராஅம்’ meaning ‘tall bur-flower tree near the path’. A vivid image of ‘newborn birds with food thrust into their open mouths’ bursts before our eyes in ‘பிள்ளை உள்வாய்ச் செரீஇய’. Ending with the words ‘விரையுமால் செலவே’ meaning ‘a hurried journey’, the verse invites us to listen with empathy.
Delicate colours of dusk spread a warm glow on the abstract thoughts hidden. The context reveals that the man and lady had been leading a happy married life when the man departed to gather wealth. One evening, a while after his departure, the lady says, “In the wide-mouthed skies, the sun has set. Towards their nest in the tall ‘maraam’ tree near the winding path, that bird with curved wings, clutching its prey, journeys hurriedly so as to thrust food into the open mouths of its young ones. Pitiable, it is!” With these words, the lady is expressing her own distressed state, as the man has not yet returned to her.
What do birds rushing homeward have to do with the lady? The lady expresses her feelings by first talking about the setting sun in the spreading sky. Then, she declares that something is to be pitied, without saying what. She then, points to birds with curved wings in those crimson skies. Peering closely, we see these denizens of high above, clutching prey in their mouths tightly. A sense of rushing towards something can be felt in the flapping of their wings. Clarifying that it’s towards their home in the soaring ‘kadamba’ tree, where their little ones are waiting with open mouths, that these birds are rushing towards, the lady concludes her words.
While the lady is calling those birds pitiable, it’s her own sorrow that she’s projecting on the birds. Unlike the birds, which are aware of their duty, and are rushing homeward with their catch of the day to feed their trusting young ones, the man seemed to show no signs of returning home to his lady, waiting with the same trust in her heart. And that’s why in a hidden manner, the lady talks about her own lamentable state. In the end, it’s an expression of inner emotions, which would no doubt give the lady relief. Perhaps, overlooking her momentary suffering, in that symbol of birds returning home at sunset, the lady would deduce the hope that her man too would return likewise soon. An ever-needed hope for anyone that the sorrow of the now might set like the sun and rise as joy tomorrow!
Share your thoughts...